The night sunk in the tiredness of the day. The night admired the darkness that surrounded. The darker the night, the brighter the sky. The stars sang a symphony as the night twickled in dims and shades. The moon slept under the million stars while its light softly swept across the city. The hustle bustle of the day was replaced by the melodies of the wind that ruffled through the empty streets.

“Twelve!”, she shouted when she accidently glanced at the time in her watch. It was ten minutes to twelve. But having exceeded the usual time of 6 by six hours, she jumped at the realization. She always kept the phone in silent mode while she worked. She hated distractions. “2 missed calls, 25 new messages”, the notification on the phone read. It was unusual for her to stay late at work. And if she has to, she would sort the calender for the whole date about how to deal with it. She grabbed her things while she waited for the presentation to get uploaded and as soon as it did, she hit the send button. It was almost twelve now and she would have to call a taxi for going home. Only that there weren’t any available. “No cars available”, the message read on the location she was standing at outside her office. The only way she could go back home is through the metro. The Metro was a few blocks away. The night wasn’t as dark after all and the moon was silently sleeping in the sky with its radiance. “Gosh, it is beautiful”, she said as she stared at the moon as she felt that it is the best company it could have at that hour of the night.

He was slightly drunk. “You are not a man!”, the words haunted him, pierced him as he ordered for one more drink. It burned as it went down the throat, but he could care less. “That bitch, how dare she?”, he kept shouting in his mind. The drinks doubled and the piercing never stopped. “One more”, he said too angrily as his purpose for visiting the bar didn’t suffice. “Can’t even one thing go right?”, he murmured to himself under his breath. The bartender made an apologetic face implying that they were out of stock, but he could give him something else. He just threw some cash he had in wallet and took a beer on his way out. He was tripping as he got out of the bar. He wandered around for a few blocks without knowing where he was going or what he wanted to do. Then he saw the sigh “Metro” pointing towards right. As he made his way trying to balance himself he saw her. “Gosh, she is beautiful”, he said as he saw her under the moonlight, in a white and black combination.

As he made his way towards the Metro, the same way she was heading, he had a few more emotions building up. “You are not a man”, the words screamed him. His ego bruised a little more every waking thought. He just lost it. He had to prove her wrong. He had to prove him right. He needed that assurance. He gulped the last fraction of the beer and it slipped through his hand and landed on the cement pavement breaking into a hundred pieces. He thoughts were temporarily suspended as she heard the glass break and turn around to see the origin. She figured he was drunk and didn’t pay much heed. He started pacing faster towards her while she returned to her thoughts. She was thinking about how she could improve the work she was doing and get that delivered in time. Days like these shouldn’t come to her or anyone working under her. She was managing a team of close to fifty people but she was more of a leader-team player than a boss. The words echoed in his mind like a terrible headache pounding the walls in the head with each heartbeat which fueled his ego. Her thoughts were again disturbed by the fast clicks of of feet on the pavement. She turned around to check whether he was alright, but he was closer and she caught a glimpse of his eyes – they looked devilish, hungry and completely out of control. It was time for her to panic as he paced a little faster towards her and almost caught her. She stood still and swing herself just out of his hand’s reach. An unanticipated move from her made him stumble as he balanced himself from falling but failed. The alcohol was kicking in and he wasn’t thinking clearly as well. From the pavement he saw her, standing near his feet and he assessed she was small for him but something disturbed his thoughts. She was calm and not at all scared. This should have given him the message but “You are not a man” voice filled his mind. He stood up with double the speed, the adrenaline mixed with alcohol kicking in, made his move again.

She saw his eyes, still dark and hungry as he just turned towards her a moment after he fell on the ground. By the time, she set her laptop bag down beside her. Because she wanted to end it sooner to catch the metro. She stood there and watched him stand up and wished he just gave a thought to what he was doing just once. But he didn’t. His hand was reaching for her hand while the other for her dress. Two swift moves and he missed both again. He was shocked and very angry. One punch to her face and she will fall unconscious and before he could finish his thought he raised his hand. She ducked and squared her elbow into his jaw. Having not anticipated this either, he stumbled back almost falling as he felt his head burst inside a little. She thought she could have gone for the groin, but it would have been very easy. By now she felt like he learned his lesson. But the voice kept haunting him, laughing at him for proving it right! His eyes now burned with rage that needed that assurance to shut the voice. He pounced with double the speed he could thought of with his clenched fist. He was determined to take her down, but that she was prepared for everything and anything he had up his sleeve. Three swift moves from her and he couldn’t touch a single strand of hair on her. She could go on but she realized that she would she would just provoke him more and more and he wasn’t going to learn his lesson. He took a second to catch his breath while her fist kissed his right cheek, before he could react, her left fist was in his gut which made him bend forward while she lifted her left knee just the right height for her to hold back of his head and smack it on her knee. He had no choice but to go fall down and crawl away. Too many sudden shocks has rendered him almost unconscious to move and there was alcohol. She dialed the emergency services for an ambulance with the location she was at. By now he might have learnt his lesson, she thought. Though the popular belief that “Men will be men” kind of crept in her mind, she was sure that a woman wasn’t afraid of men like him. She went back to her thoughts she was so engrossed in earlier while she boarded the quarter past twelve metro.